Interesting Facts about Geography
Last updated: Sunday January 9th, 2022
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Introduction
Welcome to this blog! After some research, I compiled a short list of geographical facts to share. However, I expanded on this list to bring you 26.
Facts
1) 8 of the 9 largest cities in the Central African Republic begin with B.
The 9 largest cities of CAR are Bangui, Bimbo, Berbérati, Carnot, Bambari, Bouar, Bossangoa, Bria and Bangassou.
Source: Citypopulation.de (2003 Census)
2) The farthest point on Earth from the center is the summit of Chimborazo, in Ecuador.
This stratovolcano is located on an equatorial bulge, which makes its peak further from the center of the Earth than the peak of Everest.
Source: Wikipedia
3) Peru lies wholly in the Southern Hemisphere.
Its northernmost point reaches about 3.3 km (2.1 miles) south of the Equator.
Source: Wikipedia
4) Only 2 countries have land on the 180th Meridian.
They are Russia and Fiji (as well as Antarctica).
Source: Wikipedia
5) The tallest mountain is Mauna Kea.
This volcano in Hawaii has a total height of 10,205 meters. However, only 4,205 meters are above sea level.
Source: Guinness World Records
7) France actually has 11 land borders.
These borders consist of 8 in Europe; Suriname and Brazil bordering French Guiana; and Netherlands bordering Saint Martin in the Caribbean.
Source: Wikipedia
8) Alaska is home to the 4 largest cities in the United States... by land area.
Sitka has a land area of 2,870.3 sq mi (7,434 km2, followed by Juneau at 2,701.9 sq mi (6,998 km2), followed by Wrangell at 2,541.5 sq mi (6,582 km2), and Anchorage at 1,704.7 sq mi (4,415 km2).
Source: Wikipedia
9) The Trans-Siberian Railway crosses 16 large rivers and passes over 3,901 bridges.
It is longest railway line in the world at 9,289 km. The total distance of the bridges it passes is more than 100 km!
Source: Trans-Siberian Express
10) Amman was once called "Philadelphia"
The capital of Jordan was firstly called "Rabbath Ammon", then over time the "Rabbath" was not used, and it was known as "Ammon".
Source: Wikipedia
11) Detroit is farther east than Atlanta.
Also, Pittsburgh is located farther east than Miami. Maps can be deceiving!
Sources (Google): Detroit, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Miami
13) North Korea and Norway are only separated by one country.
Russia.
14) The highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States are only 84.6 miles apart.
The lowest point, Badwater Basin in Death Valley (-282 ft, -86 m elevation) is less than 90 miles from Mount Whitney (14,505 ft, 4,421 m elevation).
Source: Wikipedia
15) Ireland extends farther north than Northern Ireland.
Also Virginia extends farther west than West Virginia. Names can be deceiving!
Sources (Wikipedia): Ireland / NI and Virginia / WV
1) Boston -> Boston, Lincolnshire
2) Worcester -> Worcester, Worcestershire
3) Springfield -> Springfield, Essex
4) Cambridge -> Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
8) Lynn -> King's Lynn, Norfolk
(New Bedford, the state's 7th largest city, is supposedly named after the Duke of Bedford, which is named after Bedford, Bedfordshire).
Sources (Wikipedia): Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Cambridge, Lynn and New Bedford
17) 11 US States are bigger than the United Kingdom, including Alaska, Oregon and Michigan.
Alaska is so big that you could fit the UK into it seven times, and still have enough area to fit in North Macedonia.
Sources (Wikipedia): States by Area and Countries by Area
18) The Las Vegas Strip is located outside of Las Vegas' city limits.
The section of the Las Vegas Boulevard is located in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester.
Source: Wikipedia
19) Alaska is the northernmost, westernmost and easternmost state in the United States.
Some of Alaska's Aleutian Islands pass over the 180th meridian into the Eastern Hemisphere.
Source: Wikipedia
20) The Sargasso Sea is a region of the Atlantic Ocean that does not have any land boundaries.
It is distinguished from the rest of the Atlantic by calm blue seas and brown seaweed called Sargassum.
Source: Wikipedia
21) Sudan has more Ancient Pyramids than Egypt.
Even though the Pyramids of Giza are world wonders, there are more than 80 more ancient pyramids in Sudan (~220) than Egypt (~135).
Source: Wikipedia
22) The Challenger Deep is the deepest known point in the Earth.
The depression of the Mariana Trench has a depth of 10,929 meters - this is deeper than the height of Mauna Kea!
Source: Wikipedia
23) Bangkok is the place with the longest name.
The name, with 169 letters, is Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit.
This translates as
City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Vishvakarman at Indra's behest.
Source: Wikipedia
24) There is a British Cemetery in Ocracoke, North Carolina.
During WWII, German submarines sank many British ships and the sailors' bodies floated to the island's shore. The bodies were buried in a cemetery on the island. The cemetery is forever ceded to the United Kingdom.
Source: Wikipedia
25) The record for the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth is 56.7°C (134°F).
This temperature was recorded in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California in 1913.
The record for the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth is -89.2°C (-128.6°F).
This temperature was recorded at the Vostok Station, Antarctica in 1983.
26) Fraser Island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world.
Located off the coast of Queensland, Australia, the island has an area of 1,840 km2.
Source: Wikipedia
Final Thoughts
Thank you for reading this blog, which is my second blog (my first blog is here). I decided to create this after I was looking at the Central African Republic on Google Maps and noticed several "B" cities. Then I looked at citypopulation.de and found that fact. I hope you learned something new!
Alcatraz is known as Evil Island
Though jokes aside, I knew 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 19, 21 and 23 before researching.
"On a Mercator map, Greenland appears the same size as Africa. However, Africa's area is 14 times larger in reality. Greenland's area (2,166,086 km2) is smaller than the DR Congo's area (2,344,858 km2)."
Source: Wikipedia
Great Blog!
Nice blog :D